- Balsamic Vinegar of Modena Traditional 12 year old DOP certified. Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale Affinato from Villa Ronzan The Balsamic Guy.

This balsamic vinegar is incredible, yes it certainly has more depth and complexity than other cheaper "fake" vinegar that are out there, but it's not really worth it in my opinion. I say this while affirming that fact that it is definitely better, but the increase in taste and quality isn't commensurate with the massive increase in price. I mean if we are being honest here, you're paying over $1 per ML of liquid and essentially it's kind of hard to justify that. What I mean is that if you buy a good "fake" balsamic for like $20 or $30 for 200ML it reaches 80 percent of the experience and taste of this vinegar, so I personally will not being coming back, despite the fact that I loved the product. That being said, I respect the quality and the process that's involved in making this delicious stuff and I think it might be nice for a rare treat.

I have a passion for Italy and Italian food. I have had the pleasure of visiting Italy on many occasions, and during my trips I developed a true passion for Traditional Balsamic vinegar of Modena. I will never forget the first time I was introduced to this incredible elixir. Expecting something sour and vinegary, I was hesitant when I was offered to try the Balsamic Vinegar on a spoon. But, this was no ordinary vinegar. It was an explosion of flavors in my mouth. I immediately fell in love with the versatility of this product. I couldn't believe it could go with so many different types of food from savory to sweet, continuously enhancing and complimenting each flavor. I have done my research. This is not the average balsamic vinegar you can buy at your local grocery store. This is the only authentic Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena with DOP certification. Some other brands make false claims of authenticity and aging. Comparing this incredible product to an industrial made vinegar, is like comparing a fine bottle of Dom Perignon wine to a two buck chuck from Trader Joe's, Sorry two buck chuck fans, no offense to you. The consortium producers are very serious about their craft and it shows - this balsamic vinegar from The Balsamic Guy is simply superb. It is aged for at least 12 years in wooden barrels. Then a team of 5 expert master tasters evaluates the product, if it passes a rigid set of tests, it can only then be bottled and sealed by the Consortium of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar Producers. Every batch has a different rating, so not all Traditional Balsamic Vinegar are created equal. The Balsamic Guy secures the highest scoring lots, and I am so glad I found this fantastic product here on Amazon.com. If you have never tried Traditional Balsamic Vinegar before, this is an excellent start. This bottle of 12 year old won't last long as it is outstanding. I will reorder soon to try the 25 year old balsamic. Can't wait.

Ordering this, I feel like I was a winner two different ways. I order an awful lot of stuff from Amazon.com. Thinking back, I cannot remember a single instance where there was a problem. When this wonderful product arrived, saying that I was excited about it was a bit of an understatement. I never buy something as elegant as 12 year old Balsamic Vinegar. Once it arrived, I opened the package and the box it came in (very well packed), I found the container missing! The small spout was there but this treasure was not. I called Amazon to let them know about this. I was sure there would be problems. Thinking from their perspective, they could have some loser on the phone trying to scam a bottle. I took pictures and was ready to argue. NOTHING! The people at Amazon said that there are rare occasions this happens, that they understood and they would send another out at no additional charge! I couldn't believe it! ZERO hassle. Well, the product came on a Sunday. I opened it and found the bottle was there along with the small spout and the owner's manual. I tasted it and this stuff is AMAZING! I've got a specific salad dressing recipe that I am planning on making my wife for mother's day. Now it will happen and it's going to be awesome. Thank you Amazon for fantastic customer service and Modena for a great product. I'm really looking forward to making the dressing.

I couldn’t wait to get this for the cook in my life, but when arrived, the box crushed and won’t close right. It looks like it came from a seconds store! ;-(. Too much hassle to return, I will just gift later and make apologies. I hate to do that, but …

I had a conversation with a co-worker recently who described to me the "real" balsamic vinegar she uses when cooking, and she raved at the unique flavor it had compared to store bought balsamic. Intrigued, I did some research and found an excellent article on serious eats ([...]) which concisely explained the many differences between grades of balsamic vinegar (some of which really aren't balsamic vinegar). I decided to find out for myself and purchased this product after reading the reviews on Amazon. And I am amazed. The product arrived as scheduled and we tried it on some asparagus we were having the next night. We both could not believe the sweet taste it added to the food. There is no "sour" taste you find in most regular vinegar you buy at a supermarket. You can tell the people who produce this particular product are very proud of it and the family tradition behind it. The packaging alone shows their commitment to excellence. Included is a pamphlet which describes the 12 year process used to create this Traditional Balsamic Vinegar. As the pamphlet suggests this is truly a work of art more than just a product of a production process. The following evening we tried a few drops mixed with extra virgin olive oil on a tomato and avocado salad and again experienced a wonderful, palate pleasing pairing of this fine Traditional vinegar with a side dish. Tonight we'll add it to our caprese salad. Next week we'll be adding it to some of our meats, as we now look forward to our "experiments" knowing they will always turn out better with our new found favorite ingredient!

Very$$$ but worth it. Only the best.

I would honestly rate it a 4/5, however I am compensating it for the people downgrading the product because they know nothing of fine foods. The bottle I received had excellent flavor, and I would say that if you are new to balsamic vinegar, the difference in flavor from the 10-20$ range to this is huge, but the difference between the 40-60$ range is minimal. If you are not a person who can taste notes in wine, it isn't worth the extra step past mid range. That being said, for it's age and quality I expected a slightly thicker balsamic (around 10-15% thicker, no big deal), but that dent in quality is why I would place it more towards a 4 star range than 5, as it it more of a fair deal at the 80-90$ range, but as someone in the food industry, I can vouch that amazon is quite brutal on pricing to culinarians, which may be why it's 100 here and more fair to put it at the 5 star range. This balsamic leans slightly more toward tart than sweet and pairs well with light savory dishes such as a caprese salad or fish.

This product is very disappointing. I had high expectations considering I have been researching high quality products such as this for a while now. We have been using a fairly high end brand that has now become hard to get, so we tried this one. To my surprise, the taste is bland and flavorless. It is very thick, which it should be, but that is the only resemblance to what a quality BV should be. Disappointing.